 John Thomas never directly acknowledged that he, and not Wilson, was the one who had changed his view, nevertheless Robert Roberts did so in 1896, as did Charles Curwen Walker in 1906.As a result of what later came to be known as the "immortal emergence" controversy, fellowship between the two men, and their groups, was severed.Then in 1865 when both groups registered with the Union Government as conscientious objectors using different denominational names the breach was made permanent.